This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Internal combustion engines typically have a fuel delivery system where fuel is drawn from a fuel tank and delivered via a fuel line into the engine. The fuel is injected into a combustion chamber of the engine by fuel injectors, where it is mixed with drawn ambient air, compressed by a compression device, such as a piston-cylinder, and ignited to cause combustion of the air-fuel mixture. The combustion gases generally expand to do work on the compression device, such as moving the piston to drive a crankshaft. The combustion gases are typically then expelled from the combustion chamber through an exhaust of the engine.
Recently, with sustained high fuel prices and increased fuel economy and emissions regulation standards, there is a demand for highly efficient engines that cut emissions and fuel consumption compared to conventional engines. One way to minimize fuel consumption and ensure effective combustion is to control the operation of fuel control devices, such as fuel injectors and high pressure fuel pumps, For example, by controlling the actuation of the valve within the fuel injectors, an appropriate amount of fuel can be supplied to the combustion chamber at the appropriate time.
An engine control unit (ECU), which may also be known as a powertrain control module (PCM), monitors and controls the operation of multiple components in the engine to control the performance of the engine. For example, the ECU may monitor the performance of the fuel injectors by way of sensors and apply drive signals to the fuel injectors to control the opening/closing operation of the fuel injectors. The ECU can be tasked with handling increasing amounts of sensed information, which can slow down processing of information sent to the ECU. Additionally, the ECU may control other components of the engine. Accordingly, if calibration data or the fuel injector control program has to be updated, the entire ECU may need to be replaced, which can be expensive.